suppliant
Americanadjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of suppliant
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French, present participle of supplier < Latin supplicāre to beseech, supplicate. See -ant
Explanation
A suppliant is someone who begs or prays for something, and to be suppliant is to humbly pray or ask for forgiveness. Puppy-dog eyes can help if you’re trying to look suppliant. Like the related word supplicant, suppliant has do with praying in a humble manner. A suppliant student in the principal's office is going to have better luck avoiding detention than a disrespectful one. Suppliant is not a word you hear much these days — it was more frequently used in the days when people had to beg for everyday things, including basic needs like food and water, from monarchs and others in positions of power or authority.
Vocabulary lists containing suppliant
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another Aeschylean drama, “The Suppliant Women,” shows King Pelasgus deferring to the Argive assembly when confronted with the Danaids’ plea for asylum.
From Salon • Apr. 13, 2025
Novelist Tarkington, one of the kindliest and most helpful writers in the busi ness, soothed and encouraged Suppliant Roberts.
From Time Magazine Archive
Suppliant he stands and urges all his claim: His wealth, his portly person and his name, His habitation in the setting sun, As child of nature; and his suit he won.
From Black Beetles in Amber by Bierce, Ambrose
However well-founded were these apprehensions, compassion, and a sincere wish to repair his fault as much as possible solicited his complying with the prayers of his Suppliant.
From The Monk; a romance by Lewis, M. G. (Matthew Gregory)
The Suppliant Women points towards peace, and the true policy of Alcibiades was to make peace impossible.
From Euripedes and His Age by Murray, Gilbert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
